Two Silver Sai
by AJsHellCat
Summary: Elizabeth Brent owner of the exclusive bar and lounge Static, never thought an ordinary evening at work would change her life forever...sequel to Return to You featuring Raphael
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: hello! I am back, finally, with a sequel to Return to You! yay! anyway, this time around it's our dear Raphael that gets to have his world turned upside down by a woman! read on and enjoy. Oh yes, I'm doing this in third person, not first like the last one. just a heads up.

_11:30pm, Static dance club, lounge, and bar, downtown New York City..._

"Pass me the vodka, my man!" Elizabeth Dawn Brent called to her employee, Dean who was working the bar with her.

"Right on it!" he shouted and tossed her the bottle. Liz caught it and poured it into the glass in front of her, followed by cranberry juice. The bar was hopping that night, crawling with Hollywood's elite. Which was normal for Liz because her establishment was one of the most exclusive and popular in the city.

The drink list was extensive and also pricey, containing plenty of of the best hard alcohol, wines, beers, and coolers out there today. But, those that came here could afford to dish out the cash. The tip jar, she notice smugly, was already filled with hundreds of dollars and they'd only been open for about and hour and a half.

The decor of the bar was simple. Leather-clad stools lined along two varnished cedar counters. behind the bar, the choices for drinks were displayed. The lounge was a bit more 'done up' as Liz liked to think of it. It had a wonderfully bold blend of blues, black, and cream coloured couches. The tables themselves were flat versions of those 'lightning balls' which was truly original.

The dance floor was huge, able to fit 300 plus people, so that crowding could usually be avoided. Right now, about 100 plus were out there, dancing to a bass-abusing hip-hop song.

"Damn," Liz said to Dean as he came to stand beside her. "it's bloody hot in here."

"I agree." Dean dabbed his towel against the back of his neck. "Wanna get Vincent and Ruby up here so we can take a break?"

It was funny, even though Liz was technically his boss and couldn't really make suggestions like that, it didn't matter to her. Dean was pretty much her family. They both had worked together in her bar since she had first opened it almost 5 years ago.

"Oh that would be wonderful!" Liz called the two people in question, who were just finishing clearing some glasses off of a nearby table.

Once the two were in place behind the bar, Liz and Dean headed outside to the Employees Only patio. A cool breeze immediately hit her skin, making her sigh happily.

"That's better." Liz and Dean watched from above while more people came in from below.

"A never-ending stream. It never ceases to amaze me." Dean commented.

"Yeah, same here." Liz took out the hair elastic that kept her raven hair back in its usual ponytail. "Ugh, sweaty hair."

Dean laughed. "You complain about that everynight, I think."

Liz glared at him playfully. "So?"

Dean only laughed more, his dark green eyes twinkling with amusement. Only a moment later, they were both startled by the sound of something clattering to the ground behind them.

"What the--" Liz started to say, but stopped once she caught sight of what the item was. It appeared to be a three-pronged metal weapon.

Dean, brow creased with curiosity, picked it up. "Odd." he said, looking it over.

Liz nodded. "It's nicely made, though. Look at the leather wrapping and the carvings on the metal. Both are gorgeous." And indeed they were. On the front there were Japanese letters. The back had a dragon. Both, it was obvious, were done with the utmost care and skill.

"I imagine whoever owns this will want it back." Dean said.

Liz agreed, and looked around to see if anyone was around that appeared to be looking for something. No such luck. Everyone was either chatting, dancing, or drinking. Nobody looked as if they had misplaced anything.

"Oh well. I'll keep it behind the bar and see if anyone comes for it." Liz announced, and once again admired the weapon before heading inside with Dean.

Meanwhile, on the roof of the bar a very pissed off red-bandana wearing turtle was glaring down at the ground.

"Dammit! Dropped it!" Raphael huffed and cursed again. If only it hadn't landed where that chick and the dude were, otherwise he would have been able to retrieve it.

Michaelangelo patted his brother on the back. "Bummer, dude. Don't worry. We'll get it back."

"How? the chick's got it inside that very _public_ bar of hers, Mikey. It's not like we can just waltz in 'ere and get it."

"I know that, bro. That's why we send Christine, who is very _human_, in there." Mikey smiled with childlike delight as he mentioned his best friend and now girlfriend.

Raph smiled at Mikey's obvious solution. "Awesome! let's go get her!" And with that, the two brothers took off back to the sewer to tell her about their plan.

Christine agreed, changed into more 'bar friendly clothes' as she called them (which she didn't let Mikey see otherwise he wouldn't have let her leave), and headed back to the busy bar with Raph and Mikey in tow.

"Wow! look at all those people!" Christine exclaimed when they got closer.

"Yeah, there's tons of 'em." Raph agreed. "Ya ready?"

Christine nodded and went to go stand in the line-up, which was disconcertingly long. Thankfully, they were pretty efficient and she got to the front in about 20 minutes. That may seem long, but when the lines (as she had read) could number in the hundreds, this was pretty good.

Before she went in, she caught eyes with Mikey and slipped her trenchcoat off. Mikey's eyes, as she had predicted, bugged open when he caught sight of her short, mid-thigh, form-fitting black dress which also boosted up certain parts of anatomy.

Raph laughed at Mikey's expression. "Cat got your tongue?" he teased.

"Woah." Was all the turtle could say in response, which only made Raph laugh harder.

Not too long later, Christine reappeared. She glanced up at the boys, revealing the Sai.

"Yes!" Raph exclaimed. A moment later, she climbed up onto the room and handed the weapon back to Raph.

"Way to go, Chris on not only gettin' back my weapon, but leaving Mikey speachless with that dress!"

Christine smiled in triumph. "Thanks! Getting the Sai back was easy, though Liz thought I was a bit odd for having one."

"Liz?" Raph asked.

"Oh, the owner of the bar. Her name is Elizabeth Brent." Christine produced a magazine photo of the woman in question. Raph took it and studied it. As he suspected, it was the same woman he'd seen on the patio.

Damn, Raph thought, she was pretty hot. He'd only been able to see her hair from above so he hadn't really gotten a good look at her, but now he could. She had eyes the colour of dark rum to go with her raven hair. She was also slender, but still very much had a womanly figure. her lips were pouty and full in the picture and Raph found himself wishing that he was holding the real Liz and could kiss her, just to see if that mouth was as soft as it looked.

Raph shook his head, figuring she had that effect on alot of men. Perhaps even the one he'd seen her with tonight. Either way, she was out of his league.

Before any of them could move to go back to the sewer, a loud scream pierced the air.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: hey there! Here is chapter two of my story. I hope you all enjoy it!

Fear overtook Elizabeth Brent as she stared down the barrel of a very large and no doubt powerful gun.

"You bitch!" the man slurred, obviously very drunk but very angry, "let me in!"

Just moments ago, she had denied him entrance because it was against her bar's regulations to let someone who was already inebriated into the establishment. The gun in her face was the result.

"P-put down the gun, sir, please." Liz said slowly.

"Y-You wench! I want in!"

"Sir, I…" Before Liz could finish her sentence, the man was hoisted in the air.

"Now, now, you can't be treatin' ladies like that." Said a thick New York accented voice.

The sounds of a struggle ensued, but only for a brief moment. The next thing Liz knew, she was face to face with a very large, muscular turtle with what appeared to be a red bandana tied around his head.

"You okay miss?" the turtle asked her.

Liz promptly sputtered, "Y-You're a…a…"

"A turtle?" he supplied. "Yup, I would be. My name's Raphael."

Liz could only gape. That is, right before she fainted.

Raph shook his head, used to this reaction from people they rescued. Carefully, he picked her up and laid her down on the patio where he'd seen her standing earlier. He took a brief moment to stare at her sleeping face before he disappeared into the dark with Mikey and Christine.

It began to rain soon after their departure. Raindrops gently hit Liz's forehead and face, causing her to slowly wake. Dean's face was the first thing to come into focus. He wore an expression of concern.

"Are you alright, Liz? What happened?"

"I'm fine. There was a man…with a gun. He-he wanted to come in…B-But I denied him because of rules. Anyway, he was…" Liz decided that telling Dean about the huge turtle was out of the question. "Stopped…but some unknown man. I don't know who, but the man is long gone."

Dean gathered her up into his arms and hugged her. "Thank god you're alright."

Before Liz could respond, police officers approached them, wanting details on the events. Obviously someone had phoned them while she was out. Liz sighed, and then went off with one of the officers to tell them everything she could remember, again minus the turtle detail. She couldn't quite deal with that one yet.

Once that was done, they let Liz go home for which she was grateful. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was just after two in the morning. That drew a yawn and a stretch.

"Thank you for your information." Officer Smith, who had talked to her for the last couple of hours, said.

"You're welcome." Liz said politely, and then left the station. The light rain had turned into a downpour.

"Wonderful!" Liz grumbled and climbed into her black Dodge 1500 truck, which she loved.

Liz did a quick examination of her hair. It was all over the place and limp. Narrowing her eyes, she took out her ponytail and redid it as best she could by her rear view mirror.

Her thoughts, funnily enough, turned back to her rescuer. How in the hell could anyone explain that? Just what the devil was it? Didn't it, or rather he she figured, say he had a name? She wondered just what it was.

With her windshield wipers at full power, she drove home. But, just as she was passing Central Park, something large rolled out into the street, causing her to slam on her breaks.

"What the…" Liz's eyes went wide as the something slowly got up and was illuminated by her headlights.

It was her rescuer! Unsure of what to do, she simply stared for a moment or two. Her rescuer staggered, then fell again. The least she could do, she decided, was ask if he was okay.

Rolling down her window, she called out into the rain. "Are you alright?"

Her rescuer reacted to her voice and looked in her direction. Carefully turning, he spoke to her.

"Hey lady, we meet again. And yeah, I'm alright." That's when Liz caught sight of the cut on his leg.

"Alright my butt!" she exclaimed, despite herself. "You're not alright. You've got a nasty cut on your leg."

"Yeah, I suppose I do, but it's nothin' you gotta worry about."

"Well," Liz said, "you did rescue me, uh…"

"Raphael." He grunted.

"Ah, yes, Raphael. I'm Elizabeth Brent, but you can call me Liz. Anyway, you did help me out so I'm going to help you out." She motioned for him to get into her truck.

Raphael limped over and did just that. Yeah, so it might be against his better judgement, but hey, she wanted to help him out. How often did humans extend that sort of thing towards a huge, green mutant turtle? Never, that's what. And so, here he was accepting Liz's help.

Liz reached behind her seat and produced a first aid kit. "This should have everything, I hope."

She inspected the cut once again with proper light. "Doesn't look to deep, so I think these bandages will do."

Carefully, she cleaned it and applied the bandage to it. "So," she said awkwardly while she worked, "Are you really a big, um, turtle?"

Raph laughed. "Yeah, I'm a big turtle. This," he gestured at himself, "is no costume."

"But-But how did you….get this way?"

"That," Raph said as he carefully moved so he was sitting in the seat properly, "is a long story."

"Oh." Liz bit her lip. "So, uh, where do I take you? Do you have, a, uh, I don't know, hideout?"

It took everything in Raph to stop staring at her mouth while she did that. Damn, the attraction he'd felt when he'd first seen her was flaring up again.

"If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll show you."

"I promise, Raphael. I mean, who is going to believe me anyway?" She had a point there, Raph knew.

With his directions, they ended up near an alleyway not too far from the park. "See that sewer lid?" Raph asked.

She did. It was dead center in the alley. "Yes."

"That's where the entrance into the tunnel that leads to my lair is." There was no point in telling her about his brothers. Despite his attraction, he didn't know her that well nor did he know if he could fully trust her.

"Alright, be sure to keep checking on that wound. You don't want it to get infected." Liz decided that commenting on him being in the sewers would be rude.

Raphael grinned at her. "I won't and thanks." He said, before getting out of the truck and disappearing rather clumsily into the sewer.

"Man, what a night." Liz said to herself as she drove away. There was a huge turtle that lived in the sewer who had saved her life and in turn she'd helped him. Now she couldn't say New York wasn't interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Raph grumbled and groaned as he walked back to the sewer. His leg hurt each time he put weight on it. But, thankfully, it was bandaged so it wouldn't get covered in the dirty and bacteria-ridden sewer water he was currently walking through.

Looking down at his leg, he thought of Liz again. That brought a smile to his face. She certainly was hot, he decided. Raph also liked that she didn't go into complete hysterics, as people do, whenever they happen to see him.

When he got back to the lair again, the sounds of talking and smells of pizza hit him.

"Hey, Raph!" Leo greeted and then looked down at Raph's leg. "How did you do that?"

"When I was runnin' back here, I hit a piece of somethin'."

"And the bandage came from…?" Leo had to ask since he knew that they never usually carried those sorts of things with them.

Raph sighed. "I ran into the lady who runs Static, Liz, while I was headin' back. She, strangely enough, helped me out."

Leo widened his eyes briefly. "She helped you out?"

Raph shrugged. "I don't know why, she just did. I thought she would've screamed and sped off when she saw me, but she didn't."

"Yeah, that is weird. Either she has seen weirder, which I doubt, or she's still in disbelief." Christine, who had overheard the conversation, said.

"I'm guessing it's probably the second choice." Leo said and chuckled. Raph and Christine joined in before going to devour the newly out of the oven pizza.

Nobody knew that they were indeed wrong.

Liz sighed and tossed her keys on her kitchen table as she walked in the door to her small, but comfortable house. Most people would think that because she was so wealthy, that she'd live in a mansion, but she didn't.

She'd always believed that a mansion could never really be a home. They were simply too big for that. Her ideal house, the one she was currently standing in, had two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a huge kitchen with two rather gargantuan stoves, fridge, and freezer (she loved to cook so that was okay to splurge on). Her living room was a little small, she conceded, but her porch was a good size but nothing like her kitchen. It, hands down, was the biggest room in her house.

"Oreo!" she called out to her best friend and tuxedo cat, "Where are you, buddy?" Liz heard a soft meow then smiled as she watched her cat trot into the room.

"Hello." She said and then reached down to pet him. Oreo immediately purred like a motorboat.

Liz grinned at that before turning her attention to her laptop, which was sitting on her living room table. It was flashing. Immediately Liz's face was grim. In her world, this could only mean trouble since she was also Raven, arguably one or rather the best hacker in the country. There wasn't an encryption, firewall, or uber-secure file system she hadn't been able to break into in her ten-year career. She had helped the local police all the way up to the FBI and CIA and other groups the government had put together to help with "issues" that came up.

Yeah, issues her ass. It was never as simple as that. Well, one having a double life to begin with was complicated never mind what it was.

_Shit!_

Liz clicked on the message.

**I heard about your little encounter with the, did I hear it right, turtle? Well, it's about damned time! Keep in contact with it. Remember the mission: capture and bring to headquarters. We'll go from there. **

**Gonzo R. Mclean**

Liz sighed. The man never ceased to amaze her with how he figured things out. He always seemed to know her every move. Of course, that was part of his job as her boss and the head of the organization that she worked for along with her other cohorts: Hellcat and Damon.

And she would complete this mission. That turtle along with the others, which she already knew about despite Raphael implying he was the only one, were worth a hell of a lot of money, which she was going to give to an international prison to have Damon released.

Liz felt her heart contract at the thought of her uncle in that place. It was a hellhole and the people who ran it and those that were locked up were the cruellest in the world. Damon wasn't that way; he had been trying to save an innocent civilian from certain death. They'd thought he was killing the poor guy so they threw him in prison.

Finally, after weeks of work, Gonzo (yes that was his real name, she'd checked) had been able to have Damon's case heard and the evidence brought to light. Unfortunately, the prison had insisted on a 2 million dollar bail. So, therein lays her problem.

"Sorry, Raphael." She said as she deleted the message and closed her laptop. It was a shame, really, because the guy had saved her life and now she was going to hand him over for money.

The guilt stung a little more that Liz would have liked, but she pushed it away. Her uncle's freedom was more important than her regrets, or how the turtle had made her feel while he was so close to her in her truck.

Those feelings she refused to even think about. There was no way in hell, Liz otherwise known as Raven, would let a turtle, or a mutant one at that, undo her plans.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: that there spin was inspired by a series of books I have been reading and love dearly. I hope you guys enjoy it!


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: I apologize for letting this story sit un-updated for so long. I was getting other inspirations and started writing other stories. I'd always planned to return to this one, so here I am! I hope you like it.

Liz tapped the file in front of her impatiently while she waited for her boss. He'd given her a call early that morning at precisely 7:30am, as her nightstand clock had told her. Gonzo had told her it was important and that she needed to meet with him right away. Rarely did his cool exterior ever waver so she knew this was a big deal.

And so, here she sat while he kept her waiting.

The file in front of Liz was handed to her by the secretary with explicit instructions not to open it until Gonzo was there with her.

The room could be designed to look more cheerful, Liz thought. It had plain white walls with two grey filing cabinets leaning against one of the walls. A long table lined with black, plastic chairs was the centerpiece of the room. The only thing the room had going for it was the huge window looking out over the city.

"Mornin' Liz." A thick, Irish-accented voice said. Liz immediately knew this voice as Damon's, one of her cohorts.

"Morning, Damon. Gonzo drag you up early too, eh?"

Damon yawned and nodded. "He gave me this file too." He held one up that matched the one Liz had in front of her.

The big Irishman stretched this time, making his six foot five height all the more obvious. Despite his size, he could blend into any crowd with ease because of his years of training.

However, this didn't stop women from noticing his prominent cheekbones, sharp green eyes, and shoulder-length black hair which was done up in cornrows. And, of course, his trim well muscled figure didn't hurt either.

Any woman with a pulse would want him and want they did. Damon, however, could care less since he'd been married to a wonderful woman he was crazy about for the last 10 years.

A moment later, Damon's sister, and the third member of their team, Jeraldine Reynolds also known as Hellcat, entered the room.

She was clutching an extra-large Tim Horton's coffee in her hands as if her life depended on it. Liz smiled at Hellcat. The woman had never been a morning person and wasn't about to start now.

"Morning, you two." She took a long sip from her coffee. "It's inhumane to be awake this early."

Hellcat looked much like her brother only her features were softer and her hair was down to the middle of her back and done up in a thick braid. The two were close in height, with Damon only having about 4 inches on her.

It was people like this that made Liz feel short at her own modest five foot eight.

Gonzo strode into the room not a moment later, carrying two files. One, he handed to Hellcat and the other he hung on to, tapping it against the chair in front of him.

Gonzo, Liz had decided upon meeting him all those years ago, was that he was a gritty sort of guy. He had short brown hair that always seemed to be a mess. His eyes were also brown, but to Liz they looked almost black. He was slender but built with a single tattoo on his right shoulder.

Normally, he was also clean-shaven but this morning stubble adorned his jaw. Liz tried to keep from grinning as she thought of her often teasing him that he looked like a certain goateed boy-band member.

"I called you all here at this early hour for a good reason." Gonzo began, his gruff baritone voice filling the room.

The three of them watched intently as he opened his file and then went around and opened theirs.

"In these files," he explained, "are copies of the newest evidence in Damon's case."

This caught Liz's attention.

"What does it tell us?" she asked, desperate to know this new information.

"It tells us that we have concrete evidence that Damon was indeed helping the citizen."

Liz smiled. The 'concrete evidence' her boss spoke of were three surveillance tapes that had disappeared at the time of the incident.

Hellcat patted Liz on the back.

"However," their boss continued, "they won't negotiate about the bond amount. We still need those turtles."

Raphael flashed into Liz's mind and guilt stung her. She was really going to hate doing this. After all, he'd saved her life. Frowning, she cursed the people who held her uncle for putting her in this position.

Gonzo now turned his gaze to Liz. "Agents discovered that you had had contact with one of the turtles."

Liz nodded. "I did, on two occasions. One was outside my bar and the other was while I was driving home." She detailed her fellow agents on the incidents as her boss knew about them already.

Damon and Hellcat's eyes both went wide while Liz spoke. "He showed you the manhole they use to get home, eh? Can you show us?"

Liz mentally apologized for what she was about to do, but as she had reasoned with herself, she had no other choice.

Taking a deep breath, she recited its location. Gonzo scribbled it down on a pad of paper he produced from within his file.

"Good work, Liz. This saves us a lot of legwork and man hours."

"So," Damon asked, "do we go in and get them?"

Gonzo shook his head. "From our observations of them, they all have the ability to fight and fight well. So, storming in won't work. Instead we are going to send one of our agents in to gain their trust and to lure them where we can subdue them and make sure they get to where they are supposed to go as fast as possible."

Gonzo pointed at Liz and her heart sank. Damn, he was going to pick her.

"I want you to go in, Liz." She simply nodded. "I would also like you to send us daily reports. I want you to tell me all you can about them. Any information we can use."

Liz nodded again, affirming that she understood him.

"Hellcat and Damon will assist you by tracking them and observing them while they are above ground. Just let them know every time that happens."

Once everyone understood and knew what their jobs were, he dismissed them.

"I noticed you were looking grim through that whole meeting, Liz." Hellcat said her voice full of concern for her fellow agent and best friend.

"Yeah…" Liz said, sighing. Never could Liz tell Hellcat that the reason she was down wasn't the reason Hellcat thought it was. No, her fear was not for her uncle at the moment…it was for a certain red bandana-wearing turtle who made her feel…

Liz shook those thoughts away. "I just hope this all goes well and my uncle gets back home."

Hellcat smiled and nodded. "I'm sure he will. You're one of the best agents here. You'll rock this assignment."

And with that, the two women left the building.

Raphael, as he was prone to do, was twirling his sai impatiently while he waited for his brothers to meet him topside. They always seemed to take too long, especially Mikey who had a girlfriend to 'canoodle' with as Donny put it once. Sighing, he put his weapons back in his belt.

It was then that he heard two female voices. Once he recognized as Liz's and the other he didn't know.

"See you around, Hellcat!" Liz called to the other woman.

"Right back at you, Liz!"

Raph watched as Liz walked down the street and down towards a Starbucks that wasn't far from where he was.

Despite his desire to follow her and say hello, he didn't. There were others around and he couldn't risk being seen by them and inciting panic. Instead, he watched her intently while she waited in line, ordered, and left again a while later with her beverage.

Liz took a sip of her drink. Then, as if she knew Raph was there, caught his eye. The smile she gave him quickened his pulse and made him a little too warm under his shell.

The turtle couldn't help but grin as she made her way towards him.

"Still hard to believe you actually exist, Raphael." Liz commented once she reached him.

Raph simply shrugged. "Yeah, I get that a lot." He joked. Liz chuckled.

"So, how's your leg?" she asked, gesturing at his bandage.

"Ah, it's healin' great. Thanks again for that, by the way."

"You're most welcome." Liz took a long sip of her drink.

Before either could say a word, Donny, Leo, and Mikey hopped down to where Raphael was standing with Liz.

"Woah," Mikey exclaimed upon seeing her, "who's the girl, Raph?"

"This is Liz. She's the one who gave me the bandage."

They all nodded, remembering Raph telling them about her.

"These are my brothers," Raph continued, looking at Liz once again, "Donny, Mikey, and Leo."

Liz smiled and shook each of their three-fingered hands. "Nice to meet you." And that was the truth, she really was.

Liz hadn't imagined she'd meet all four of them so fast. This was definitely a stroke of luck for her, which would make completing the mission that much easier.

Still, her conscience refused to stop telling her this might not be a good idea. Liz squashed it. This mission meant her uncle's life and for that, she was willing to engage in a little deception.

"Well, fellas," Leo said after a moment, "let the foraging begin."

Liz cocked a questioning eyebrow at Raph.

"We check out places where we can pick up unwanted items. I mean, hey…it's not like we can shop like you do." Raph gestured at himself.

Liz nodded, unable to argue with that logic. "Wanna come with? You'd have to hop on my shell, though 'cause we run fast."

She pondered this for a moment, thinking about what the turtle was suggesting. If she went with this invitation, she would have to be on his back…right against him…

Now for a true mystery: why did her heart pick up speed at the idea?

Before she could lose her courage, Liz did just that. Seconds later, the turtles were in motion and Liz realized that Raph hadn't been exaggerating or boasting about their speed.

It was as if they were flying, Liz thought as she clung to Raphael. Each leap to each rooftop was smooth and graceful, not jarring her or them at all.

It was no wonder the trackers on her team had such a difficult time keeping up with these turtles.

They were truly amazing…

Respect and admiration swelled inside her for the four of them.

_Bugger…this will make it difficult too…_

And so will the fact that she was enjoying the feeling of Raph's rough hands on her thighs…

_Liz! He's your MISSION! You cannot compromise it! And…he's a TURTLE! _ Her mind screamed at her. Shaking her head, she concentrated on the stunning view she was getting from the rooftops.

Raph struggled to keep his concentration on moving forward instead of on how good it felt to have Liz pressed right up against his shell. Never mind that her skin was soft…

The red masked turtle shook himself mentally and focused on the next rooftop in front of him. He hoped to the high heavens that they would get to where they were going soon. Raph wasn't sure how long he could last before he simply swung her around and…

Again, he shook himself. _Raph, ya gotta stay with it, man… _

And this was his mantra, the whole rest of the journey…


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: I realized, dear readers that I forgot to mention something: Liz's uncle and her co-worker Damon have the same name. Sorry for the confusion there!

"You know, I don't think you guys have nearly enough stuff…" Liz pointed at the huge pile of various odds and ends the boys had picked out to take home with them. The items ranged from a small mini-cheese grater to a large oven. All of which were precariously stacked at the edge of the junkyard they were currently in.

Raphael smirked at her comment. "Yeah, that's what usually happens when we do this."

"And besides," Michelangelo, who was currently adding a toaster to the pile, said "whatever we don't use, Donny can build some weird gadget with it!"

Liz raised a questioning eyebrow at the turtle in question.

"I'm part scientist, part inventor." Donny said proudly.

"He gave us plumbing and TV!" Mikey said, clearly deciding these two things were of the utmost importance.

Liz laughed at the orange-masked turtle.

Each turtle spent a few more minutes searching before deciding it would be a good idea to head back home.

"Load up, guys!" Donny called out to them.

Liz cursed her mission for an entirely different reason while they made the trek back. She was pushing a grocery cart filled with what she figured were the heaviest odds and ends she'd ever encountered. Worst of all, the dirt she was trying to push it through was soft, which the wheels kept sinking into.

She pushed the cart with all the strength she had and managed to get it a few feet further before it sank hopelessly into some sand.

Liz chose that moment to use some rather colourful language.

"Whoa, kid! You're startin' to sound like me!" Raphael commented, then without much trouble, lifted the cart out of the sand and onto firmer ground.

Liz just growled, embarrassed that the task had been so easy for him. This only made Raphael laugh to himself while he walked in front of her, keeping an eye on the cart.

"Miserable mutant turtles…" Liz grumbled while they got the stuff into the sewer and on its way to their lair.

That's when Liz realized that another phase of her mission was going well. They trusted her with their hiding place. While none of the turtles were paying attention, she quickly took out her phone and text messaged her co-workers and boss telling them just what was going on.

**Good job, Liz! Keep up the good work. Your Uncle will be so proud of you!**

Liz smiled at Hellcat's message. She hoped that that was true. It might just help with the growing rotten feeling she was getting about all this.

Quickly, she set her phone to vibrate and placed it back into her pocket.

They made it back to the lair a short time later. When they got there, they were greeted by a brunette and blonde woman.

Questions ran abound in Liz's mind. Who were these women? How did they know the turtles?

"This is our friend April," Raph answered as if he'd heard her thoughts. He gestured at the brunette, who offered a warm hello, which Liz returned.

"And this," Raph said, now referring to the blonde, "is Christine. She's Mikey's girlfriend."

Liz watched in amazement as said orange-masked turtle placed a soft kiss on the woman in question's mouth. The moment was tender and the affection between the two of them obvious.

From seeing this, it was far too easy to imagine them as her and Raphael…

_Liz! Control yourself, girl! Never forget why you're here… _

It wasn't like she ever could anyway.

Christine shook her hand and said hello aswell. It was then that Liz felt as if she'd seen the blonde woman before.

"Wait…weren't you the one that came in asking for that oddball fork?"

Christine laughed. "It's called a Sai, and yes, that was me."

"Why would you have something like that?" Liz was curious to know.

"It's not mine, it belongs to Raphael. It's his ninja weapon of choice as it were."

_Ninjas?_ She thought, more intrigued than ever. So that's where they'd learnt to fight as her boss had described.

Seeing the curiosity in her eyes, Christine went on. "The boys are ninjas as if you hadn't guessed, but anyway…they each have their own weapon. Donny," she pointed at the long wooden staff attached to his shell, "uses a Bo, while Mikey uses nun chucks and Leo uses Katanas."

Christine pointed out each of the weapons as she mentioned them. Liz paid careful attention and mentally made notes in her mind.

"Who taught them how to use all of them?"

"Their sensei, Splinter did." Just as Christine said this, he entered the room. Liz was floored. The guy was giant rat! There hadn't been any mention of that in the reports!

Again, she made a mental note of his existence. Her boss was going to be shocked and probably very interested.

"Welcome to the lair, miss…?"

"Elizabeth Brent…but you can call me Liz." She said, still shocked that he'd just spoken to her and with a distinctly Japanese accent.

The rat smiled. "My sons have told me about you and how you assisted Raphael. We are grateful. Not many would be so kind."

"Most would just scream and run away." Donny said, shaking his head sadly.

"Well," she said, smiling a bit sheepishly, "I kind of owed him my life."

Raphael shrugged, but smiled. "It's nothin'."

"Well, it's something for me." Liz boldly walked over to the red turtle and kissed his green cheek.

Liz smirked as Raphael's cheeks went as red as his mask.

Well, one thing was certain: being around this turtles would also be fun as well as interesting.

The fun, as it were, happened while the boys unloaded their haul. They talked animatedly to each other about each 'treasure' as they called them that they had found and brought home.

April and Christine, who were observing them, laughed at their antics. Mikey held up a rather pristine looking basketball, bounced it and then whooped with joy.

Liz couldn't help but giggle too. He truly was a silly individual. Raphael, whom her eyes were drawn to, was helping Donny lift a rather old-looking stove. Though both of their muscles strained with the effort, it was only Raphael's she noticed.

What would it be like, she wondered, to have those strong arms around her?

Liz swore under her breath. She was doing it again! She looked away and occupied herself with getting the empty grocery carts out of the way.

Raph watched Liz while she did this. He raised and eye ridge at the ferocity with which she slammed them together. What was getting her goat? He smiled to himself as he remembered earlier.

"Tryin' to murder that cart for getting' stuck are ya?"

"It seems like a fitting thing to do." She shot back, shoving the cart once more for good measure.

When Liz turned around, she found the red masked turtle grinning at her. Liz wanted to be annoyed with him…she really did. That would be so much better than what she was actually feeling: the desire to kiss that smirk right off of his face.

Where in the hell were all these strange emotions coming from?

Frustrated now, Liz decided she would sit with Christine and April, far away from the maddening turtle.

Christine and April both started when she flopped herself down on the couch the two women had been sitting on.

"What's the matter?" Christine asked.

"Is Raphael always that irritating?"

Both April and Christine exchanged a glance. "Yes, he is. But, under all that, he's a sweetheart though he won't admit it." It was April who said this.

Well, since Liz had only met him a couple of times, she would give him the benefit of the doubt.

A moment later, with much groaning, Splinter called the boys for a training session. As they went, Splinter asked Christine to watch the boys do certain moves.

This caught Liz's attention. So the rat was training her too, was he? This she had to see.

They all entered the dojo, removing their shoes. Liz knew to do this from her time protecting a wealthy man who practiced the same craft as the turtles did in Japan several years earlier.

As they went about their routine, Liz was amazed. Each of them, even the goofy Mikey, was as graceful as swans while they executed each move. As luck would have it for Liz, her eyes were drawn to the red-masked turtle.

Currently, he was sparring with his brother, Leonardo. Sai clashed against Katana, the sound resonating in the dojo.

Raphael's movements were pure poetry…and damn if Liz didn't feel her heart pick up speed at the sight…

It only got more intense when Raphael caught her eye and smiled for a mere moment before returning to the fight.

Where was a very, very cold bucket of water when a girl needed one?

Liz turned to Christine, who was sitting next to her on the mats, out of the way of the action. The blonde woman's eyes were fixed on Mikey as hers had been on Raphael.

"So, they train you aswell do they?" Liz hoped she was up for conversation since she didn't want to have to find herself staring at Raph…again. Her body was hot enough as it was.

Christine turned to her and smiled. "Yup, that's right."

"How is that going?"

"The mats and I are really close as my ass meets them a lot…aswell as my face, or whatever part Splinter and or his sons happen to knock me on."

Liz laughed at that. She had gone through the same thing when Gonzo and her uncle had been teaching her self defense for her missions. The men had had no mercy for her when he trained her. Of course, that was expected since the people she fought against wouldn't either.

"I must say watching them fight is a lot more entertaining than me spending my day cleaning my house, as I'd planned to."

Christine shuddered. "I hate cleaning."

Liz smiled at that then found herself watching Raph again. Oh, crap! She didn't want to watch him…but, she couldn't turn away.

Liz started when she felt Christine poke her. "Hey…earth to Liz."

"What?" She asked, trying to act casual but knew she was failing miserably. Christine only gave Liz a knowing smile while she bent down to whisper in Liz's ear.

"If you stare at Raph any harder, you might burn a hole in his forehead."

"I wasn't staring…" Oh, that was convincing!

Christine snorted at that, making it clear she didn't believe Liz one bit.

_And again…oh, crap. _Liz thought miserably.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, how goes the mission?" Hellcat said to Liz while they sat on Hellcat's deck, enjoying the sun. They both had put on their bikinis and flip flops and made themselves each a glass of iced tea.

"It's going better than I thought." Except that she wanted Raphael…but other than that…

What was she going to do with these emotions? Would she suppress them or give in? Liz didn't know yet. She did know that she wouldn't tell anyone, not even her best friend.

Hellcat smiled and bound her long, black hair into a ponytail. "That's good to hear. The sooner we can finish this, the sooner your uncle can come home."

Liz smiled despite her conflicting thoughts. Oh, how she yearned for the day when she could be reunited with him…that made the whole mission worth it.

For the next few minutes, she relayed everything new she'd learned about them.

"You should see them eat pizza, Hellcat. It's insane…I don't think they even taste it."

Her friend laughed and sipped her iced tea. The way Liz talked about them you'd think they were regular people instead of mutant turtles. Hellcat told her as such.

"Well, that's because that's what they act like…people. They may be turtles on the outside, but inside…they're just like you and me."

From there, Liz described each of the turtle's personalities. "Donny is the brilliant scientist one who I swear is always curious about everything, Leonardo is the leader type, Mikey is the fun-loving goofball, and Raphael is the hot-tempered smart ass one but I like him anyway."

Hellcat raised an eyebrow at how Liz had said the last turtle's name. It was as if it was fine Belgian chocolate.

"So, this guy is ruffling your feathers, eh Liz? But in a good way…"

Liz chuckled at her friend's play on words with her codename: Raven. "Oh, no…it's not like that…he's just…interesting."

Hellcat gave her a look that said she didn't believe her one bit. Crap, Liz thought. First Christine wasn't convinced and now Hellcat.

"It won't interfere with my mission." Liz stated, folding her arms across her bikini-clad chest.

Hellcat fixed her with a serious stare. "I hope not because you don't really have any other option."

And wasn't that the truth!

"I'm a professional, Hellcat. I can do this." And with that, Liz set her own finished glass of iced tea down on the small deck table beside her.

Hellcat shrugged and then stood. "Alright…time for the non-fun stuff." 'Non fun stuff' meant spending quality time in her work out room. Any agent in their organization had to spend at least two hours working out every day to keep them physically fit.

And considering the missions both girls and other agents had been on, it was a damned good idea.

The two headed down into Hellcat's basement to stand in front of what looked like, to an ordinary person, a cement wall with a fuse box on it. Liz walked to the box and opened it, revealing a keypad.

Both she and Hellcat punched in two different codes then spoke their names. After they did, the wall opened up, revealing their training room.

On one side were several pieces of exercise equipment. The other wall had an array of weapons on it all of which both girls were expertly trained in using.

Liz studied them for a long moment. Perhaps they should get some of the same weapons the boys had...that would really round out their collection. She thought of Raph twirling his Sai effortlessly and smiled.

_Liz! Control yourself! You can't think about him that way…_

That's what her rational mind said, anyway. Her heart and body had other ideas.

Liz stepped on the treadmill and put it at her preferred settings while she waged that internal war. Perhaps a little running would help her clear her mind…

It did do just that for a while, but inevitably, her thoughts were drawn back to the turtle anyway.

Irritated by that, Liz set her treadmill at a steep incline, forcing herself to work harder and hopefully work out her inner turmoil. Liz felt her muscles burn with the effort, but she kept at it.

Hellcat raised an eyebrow as she watched her friend and fellow agent get visibly annoyed as she worked out.

"Calm the emotions, Liz…you'll over work yourself."

Liz answered Hellcat with a growl and kept going.

"Well, I warned you." She said, raising her hands in a surrender gesture. Hellcat was often the voice of reason between the two, but that didn't mean Liz always listened. The world's best hacker could be a hothead sometimes.

When they were finished with their workout, they both stopped to stretch.

"Ah, at least you stopped to stretch. I was afraid you'd just storm out of here, girl. Still frustrated, I take it?"

_Raphael has my hormones doing the jive, that's what._

"I'm just worried about my uncle is all…I'm so close to being able to get him, but I still have to take my time…it's driving me nuts." Well, that was partly true, but Raph was the main cause.

Hellcat patted her friend on the back. "Yeah, I can imagine that would suck royally."

Liz nodded and stretched her arms. Unfortunately for her, the interrogation wasn't done yet.

"So, what's the other reason you're worked up…a certain _turtle_ maybe? This one you claim is _interesting_?"

Liz froze. Oh, bugger! Hellcat was going to dig for more details…oh, great…

"What? No!"

"Liz, you are a horrible liar." Hellcat laughed at her friend's expression of mild shock.

"Your face is as readable as a book."

Liz cursed that because she knew it was true. Would Hellcat think she was weird for being attracted to a turtle? Well, that was redundant…of course she would! But, since nothing ever got past her friend, she would have to tell her anyway…

_I had better make arrangements for a nice cozy straightjacket and a padded room…_ Liz thought bitterly.

"Well, to tell you the truth…yeah…one of them _is_ shaking me up, as it were." Liz took a deep breath, knowing she was verbalizing what they had only acknowledged in an unspoken manner on the deck.

"Raphael is the one, right?"

Liz nodded. "That's right…god, I wish I could stop thinking about him…" Sighing, she took a sip from her water bottle.

Hellcat smiled. Her friend was getting in deep and she didn't know it yet…

Meanwhile, the boys were training and the turtle in question was distracted aswell…

Raph growled as he spun his Sai, wishing he could get a certain black haired woman out of his head. She'd been there all morning and now into the afternoon and it frustrated the hell out of him.

Each of his brothers noticed his angrier-than-usual mood and wondered just what was riling him up.

Thankfully, Raph thought, none of them had bothered to ask him about it. He threw each of his Sai into a specially made target, each landing dead center with a resounding thud.

The result was satisfying and made him feel a little bit better. The red-masked turtle strode over and pulled the Sai out and then replaced them into his belt.

Still, that didn't ward off thoughts of Liz's raven hair or her smile…

Raph cursed loudly.

"Whoa…calm down there." He turned and saw Christine staring at him, her eyebrows raised.

Raph shrugged. "So, here for your afternoon of 'torture' as you call it?"

Christine nodded and sighed. "Yup…I'm ready for yet another beating at the hands of a malicious rat."

Raph couldn't help but laugh at her comment. "Eh…we all got our fair share of those. Just keep workin' at it, kid."

"That's what I'm doing." Christine wrapped her hands and waited for Splinter to enter the dojo. "He also said that I will get to be trained by each of you individually, too."

Raph grinned. "Really, now that'll be fun."

Christine groaned. "Oh, how I so am _not_ looking forward to our time together."

Raphael sat down on one of the benches, folded his arms, and kept grinning. Christine muttered something about a sadistic mutant turtle then sat down on the mats.

Splinter entered the room, formally bowing to Christine, who returned it with her own. The rest of the boys did the same, but sat on the bench. They were observing her today to see how she'd progressed.

Raph watched her smile at Mikey before taking her stance. Could Liz ever smile at him like Christine was smiling at Mikey? It was as if they were the only two people in the world. Love had warmed her eyes…

_Ah, to have love…_Raph thought and sighed, _that would be a great gift…_

However, he'd never been a whimsical turtle. Instead, he was generally a pessimist, or at least that's what his brothers accused him of. He figured he was more of a realist not to expect these things.

Raph suppressed another growl as he realized that he'd thought of her…again! Swearing under his breath, he focused on what was in front of him instead.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: thanks for the all reviews so far! Keep them coming!

"Ow…ow…ow…"

"I warned you."

"Shut up!"

Hellcat laughed as Liz limped into the meeting room. Hellcat's brother Damon and Gonzo were already there. Both men looked up and smiled at Liz as she grumbled.

"Not…one…word." Liz warned the two men and then sat down.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Gonzo assured her, holding his hands up in the air.

"She worked out too hard yesterday."

Liz glared at her friend. "You just had to tell."

Hellcat only laughed at Liz's childish response.

Damon laughed too, which earned him a glare from Liz. That didn't deter him however; it only made him laugh harder.

Once they were all calm again, Gonzo started the meeting.

"With the information you've gathered so far," Gonzo looked at Liz, "we've been able to plan a fairly risk-free retrieval."

Liz felt her heart drop to her feet.

"First, I want Liz to lure them out of their lair and into a designated area." Gonzo rattled off the location of a nearby alley. "From there, Damon and Hellcat will make sure they're properly sedated. Lastly, all of you will load them into the van that'll be waiting for you. That van will take them where they need to go."

"So when is this all going down?" Damon asked.

"One week from now." Gonzo answered. "In the meantime, Liz, keep gathering information. Anything and everything about them is valuable to learn."

Liz nodded, feeling more and more horrible for what was going to happen.

_I'm so sorry, Raph…I'm so sorry…_

Gonzo dismissed them shortly afterwards. Liz walked to her truck, her heart heavy.

How could she have ever wanted these turtles to end up in the hands of those men? What possessed her to think that it was fair to trade them to some of the most vicious terrorists in the world in exchange for her uncle's freedom?

There had to be another way…

Liz gripped her steering wheel tighter as she remembered the only other thing they would want beside those turtles…her.

She shuddered at that thought. After all, she had seen first hand what those bastards could do to people…

_Now I just have one week to think of an alternative. _Liz admitted that it didn't look good, not at all…

Still, she would try anyway.

"Hey, Liz!" Mikey called cheerfully when he saw Liz enter the lair.

Liz smiled and shouted a hello back at him. The aroma of freshly baked pizza was in the air, making her hungry.

"Say…that pizza better be ready, Mikey…" she teased.

Mikey laughed. "Yeah, it is…better grab a slice before my bros come and eat them all!"

"Or before you eat them all?"

Mikey shrugged, not the least bit offended by her comment. It was then that the rest of the turtle came into the room. Each offered a hello then went to grab pizza.

"Here's one for you, kid." Liz turned and saw Raph holding out a plate with a rather large slice of pepperoni pizza on it.

"Thanks, Raph." Liz said, taking the plate from him. She took a tentative bite of the slice.

"This is really good." Liz commented.

Raph grinned. "Yeah, Mikey is a really good cook."

Liz twirled some of the cheese around her finger and then gently used her teeth to get it off. Raph was mesmerized by her actions. Who would have thought eating pizza could be sensual?

_It certainly is when she does it…_ Raph thought to himself.

Liz saw the heat in Raph's eyes as he watched her with the cheese. So, her feelings weren't one-sided…the turtle felt something for her too.

Grinning, she wrapped more of it around the same finger, only this time she offered said finger to Raph. The red-masked turtle stared at her wide-eyed for a moment before he gently laid his teeth on her finger. Slowly, he drew the cheese off just as he'd seen her do.

Watching her lick her lips undid Raphael. With a swift motion, he drew her against him and kissed her.

Liz felt her body come to life, as if someone had flicked a switch. Thought was impossible. All Liz could do was feeling the heat and the passion roaring through her. Liz threw her arms around his neck, desperate to be as close to Raph as she could.

The woman was like a drug…he couldn't get enough…he kissed her with all the bottled lust he'd had since he had first seen her picture in that magazine. Raph felt her sag against him, obviously feeling just as much as he was.

When the kiss finally ended, both Raph and Liz were panting as if they'd run a marathon.

"Wow…" Liz said finally, breathless.

"Yeah…" Raph agreed, stroking her hair.

_Now, if I could just get my brain to function again... _Liz thought happily.

"Pizza is officially my favourite food." Liz muttered, leaning against Raph's plastron.

Raphael couldn't help but laugh at that. "Mine too, babe." He said.

It was the sound of Liz's cellular phone ringing that broke the moment. Grumbling, Liz dug it out of her back pocket and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Ah, there you are Liz. It's Damon…"

"Hey, what's up?"

"I just got a call from Gonzo…something big just went down that wasn't part of our plan…"

Fear shot through Liz at his words. Being a former soldier and professional sniper, not much ever shook Damon, so that meant that whatever did happen was huge.

"What happened?" Liz whispered.

"They found out about and threatened to expose all of our 'indiscretions' to the people we work for…"

Liz couldn't believe her ears…Those 'indiscretions' were all illegal jobs that they'd done to keep America and the world safe. If they were exposed, they could face serious charges and a life sentence in jail…or worse…the government could decide to hand them over their worst enemies…they'd done it before to other agents that had done things they didn't like.

How could they have found out about them? She, Gonzo, Hellcat, and Damon had gone to great lengths to make sure every piece of paperwork and person involved that would expose them was dealt with.

That meant that someone in their agency had leaked the information…but whom?

While Liz thought about that, Raphael was watching the emotions playing across her face. There was curiosity at first, then fear…then puzzlement…

He wondered just what the person on the other end was telling her. Liz ended the phone call a minute or so later. She let out a sigh.

"Crap…"

"What is it?" Raph asked.

Liz hated having to lie to the turtle, but it was necessary. They may have some raw chemistry, but she still couldn't trust him with truth about herself…

"That was my cow-worker Dean…he was telling me that some expensive liquor from the bar had gone missing."

Well, that partially true. It had happened to her before, but that was over two years ago.

Raph shook his head. "That's a bummer."

Liz agreed. It certainly was. This whole situation sucked royally.

_But,_ Liz thought as she leaned against Raph again, _I'll do whatever I can to make sure you're safe…_

That afternoon, Liz received instructions from Gonzo to set up video surveillance of the turtle's lair.

Biting her lip, Liz decided that this would be her first opportunity to hinder the plan without anyone being none the wiser. Carefully, she installed the cameras where her boss wanted while the boys were training. Instead of providing a constant live feed, she set it so that it would record none of the critical information such as when the boys left the lair, or any training footage. All they would see was daily life, nothing of real value except proving that they did indeed exist, which they already knew anyway.

Thank god Gonzo had wanted to use newer cameras they hadn't used before so that if he did notice the malfunction, he could blame it on the cameras themselves and not her.

Despite years of expertise in this area, Liz felt butterflies in her stomach. After all, there had never been this much at stake on one mission. She knew very well that going behind her boss's back could cost her a lot…her job, her freedom, her life, and most importantly…her uncle's life…

God, she prayed this worked and that she could save him…Liz knew she could never live with herself if her plan failed...doing nothing, however, would have been worse…

_Isn't it amazing how one mind-blowing kiss can rearrange a girl's priorities?_

Maybe that was the thing that had tipped the scales for her…knowing the passion the two of them could share…

Liz sat down and tried to get her racing heart and her nerves to calm down. She took slow, deep breaths until she felt herself get back to normal. Once she did that, she looked around for something to occupy her. She grinned when she saw a hand-held puzzle game. Liz picked it up and began to play.

She was just finishing what the game considered 'the genius level' when the boys left the dojo.

"Ah, having fun with my puzzle game, eh?" Donny asked, pleased that someone else besides him liked to play it.

"Yes…I just finished the 'genius' level."

Donny's eyes went wide. He'd rigged the game to be ridiculously hard so that it would always prove a challenge to him, and it appeared that Liz had plowed through it.

Mikey leaned over her shoulder. "Wow! She beat your high score!"

Liz nearly laughed when she saw the purple-masked turtle looked ready to faint before a smile broke across his face.

"Yes! I'm not the lone nerd anymore!"

Liz broke out into laughter. "I guess not."

Donny walked by and gave her a high five…well, three in his case.

Soon after, Raph stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Don't get any ideas about stealin' my girl, eh Donny?"

Donny raised an eye ridge, but smiled. "No, I kind of knew she was yours from the beginning, bro."

Christine walked up and leaned against Mikey. "Welcome to the family." She said and wrapped her arm around Mikey's shoulders.

"Was I really that obvious?" Liz asked Christine sheepishly.

Christine laughed. "Yes, you were! I remember watching you practically drool over him during training…"

Liz narrowed her eyes at Christine, hopefully hiding her embarrassment. This only made her smile.

"Don't worry! The same thing happens to me when I watch Mikey train…" Christine gave said turtle a peck on the cheek. Mikey grinned and kissed her on her neck, making her giggle.

Liz felt her heart warm. Now she was a true member of this truly individual and amazing family.

_Now all I have to do is save it…_


	8. Chapter 8

It had officially been three days since Liz had installed the cameras and so far her plan was going off without a hitch. Her boss and co-workers were none the wiser.

To make matters even better, she and Raph had pretty much been 'sewn together' as Donny had put it all those days. Liz had come to realize that April's assessment of the turtle was correct: he may act tough, but he was truly a teddy bear at heart.

So, for time being, things were going her way.

The turtle in question was currently watching Liz brush her hair in front of the medium sized mirror he had hanging in his room.

"So, how did you come own your own bar?"

Liz smiled at the question. Her bar was one of her biggest accomplishments and therefore very dear to her. It warmed her heart to know that Raph was interested in that part of her life.

"Well, I had always wanted to have one, ever since I was a little girl. My parents thought I was nuts, but I stuck to the idea anyway."

"Stubborn?"

Liz grinned at his reflection in the mirror. "Yeah, you could say I'm a bit of a hothead when it comes to things I want…"

Raph walked up and kissed the side of neck, making her sigh happily. "Another thing I like about you, kid."

Oh, how this turtle knew how to make her knees weak. It was a good thing she didn't have to stand just yet.

"Anyway," Liz continued, leaning her head the other way so he could kiss the other side, which he did, "I decided I wanted to have one in New York…"

Raph stroked her arms and shoulders. Liz sighed and put her brush down on the small table in front of her.

"Oh lord I can't think when you do that…"

Raph gave her a smile of pure male satisfaction. Liz stuck her tongue out at him and shooed him so that he had to stand a little ways away from her.

"Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I came to New York once I was 21 so that I could work in other bars, to gain experience. And after a lot of long hours and hard work and saving, I was able to buy the building the bar is in now. Of course, it took a lot of years after that before it became as successful as it is now, but that's okay…it makes me appreciate that much more."

"I'd love to see it some time; ya know…when there aren't people around an' all that."

"I don't see why not. Tomorrow is Sunday," Liz faced Raph and grinned. "The bar is closed that day. I could open it just for you guys, if you like."

"That sounds great, babe." Raph drew her into his arms and kissed her.

"And speaking of work," Liz said between kisses, "I have to go there soon, which means I have to change."

Raph grumbled against her mouth. "That means I gotta stand outside, don't I?"

Liz laughed and then kissed him again. "Yes, it does."

Raph sighed, but left. Liz frowned, not enjoying the sudden emptiness in the room now that he was no longer in it. That's when a stark truth hit her: she was in love with Raph.

Now, when had that happened? As she dressed, Liz realized she couldn't really pin that down…she just knew she'd lost her heart.

Grinning like a fool, she admired the clothes she'd chosen, strictly to drive said turtle mad.

She wore her classic black belly-baring work tank top with the Static logo across the front; a sexy black ankle-length skirt with two slits up the sides which reached just below her butt, and a pair of knee-high 3 inch heel boots.

When Liz walked out of Raph's room, said turtle look one look at her and nearly fainted.

The rest of his brothers, however, let out whistles and cat calls.

"Somebody looks hot!" Mikey called out.

"Wow!" Donny said, his eyes going wide.

Leo grinned and whistled. "Nice!"

Liz turned back and gazed right into Raph's eyes and winked. "See you later." Then, she walked away, letting her hips sway seductively as she went.

Raph just smiled, watching her rear while she walked and then climbed up the ladder to the surface.

The line outside when Liz arrived was already three blocks long. When the people saw her approaching, keys in hand, they all got excited. It was incredible how enamored some people had become with her establishment.

With security in place, she opened the doors and then descended down the stairs to behind the bar.

"Evening, Liz!" Dean greeted. He stopped short and nearly dropped the crate of glasses he was carrying when she saw Liz's outfit.

"Wow! What brought out the sex kitten tonight?" he teased. "Did you find yourself a man or something?"

Liz rolled her eyes. Yes, she had…but she couldn't tell Dean about Raphael. She had to make sure as little people knew about them as possible.

"I won't dignify that with a comment." She said coolly. Thankfully, Dean couldn't shoot a comment her way as customers were lining up in front of him for drinks.

While Liz poured, shook, and mixed, she thought about what else she could do to keep her newfound family safe. She only had four more days until the operation went down so she had to work fast.

Liz went through several possible scenarios from every possible angle but nothing seemed to be fool proof enough to try. None of them, she feared would leave her, her uncle, her coworkers, or the turtles alive after it all went down.

_Shit…_

Liz suddenly began to wonder what her uncle would think of what she was attempting to do. Would he approve or would he outright hate her for risking everything?

_I have to do it no matter what… _Liz thought determinedly. _I have to do this for Raph…and for his family…_

She would get no help from those she worked with…not even Hellcat though she was her best friend. They all knew too well what these people were capable of…

Liz thought back to the mission that had cost Hellcat's parents their lives. They had been overseas, assigned to capture and eliminate one of the most notorious drug dealers active at that time. Things had been going according to plan until an expected shoot out occurred while she and Hellcat had been trying to enter the man's house. Hellcat's parents, who had been hostages there, had been caught in the crossfire while trying to escape the house. Both she and Hellcat had watched, horrified, while the bastards gunned them down. It had only taken seconds, but it had changed the two of them forever.

So, yeah…Hellcat had a bit of a problem with people getting hurt, especially people she cared about. One could easily imagine her lack of enthusiasm for Liz's plan to throw a wrench into the plans of the people who had Liz's uncle's life in their hands.

Damon would call her a fool and her boss would fire her ass for suggesting it. If that happened, then Liz would have no way of saving anyone.

So, who could she possibly turn to for help?

Just then, a very risky and crazy plan began to form in her mind. If it worked, then everyone had the potential of getting out alive…if not…then she would lose all she cared for…but then, that's how these terrorists worked. There was never any way you could deal with them without throwing all of your cards on the table.

Tomorrow, she decided, she would do just that…


	9. Chapter 9

Author's note: hello, readers! Here's the long-awaited chapter where we finally learn Liz's plan for freeing the turtles…will it work out? Well, you'll just have to read on to find out.

"Wow! This place is cool!" Mikey exclaimed as he looked around Static. It was Sunday, and just as she had promised, she was showing them the place.

Leo and Donny were entranced with the tables while Raph was in awe over the size of the dance floor.

Liz herself was behind the bar, smiling at their enthusiasm. Raph caught her eye and smiled at her, making her heart pick up speed.

Still grinning, he walked towards her. Once he reached Liz, he leaned over the bar so he could kiss her.

Whistles and cheers could be heard from his brothers. Raph grumbled. Those guys sure weren't going to give up on razzing him for having finally found a woman.

Liz laughed gently at their actions while Raph just grumbled and rolled his eyes.

Their merriment grew when Liz got the sound system going. The music's beat got all of their two-toed feet going.

It was nice, Liz thought, to see them this way. Happy…and completely unaware of the fact that after this day, their world would be turned upside down by her plan…

It was simple, really. The original plan would go as scheduled…only the turtles wouldn't be in the dark. Liz was going to tell them everything, including her role in the whole mess. That way, they could avoid capture and have a chance at being safe…

However…she would not…they would hunt her…they would search for her until they found her…

Liz shuddered, knowing all too well what could happen if they did…

But, that wasn't happening until later. Liz pushed those thoughts from her mind. She would enjoy this moment as it was.

Still, even though she came back around the bar and joined in their dancing, her heart still ached.

A slow song came on as soon as she came onto the dance floor. The boys cheered and shouted their encouragement.

"Dance with her, Raph! All nice and close…" Mikey called out, chuckling merrily.

"Shut your beak, Mikey!" Raph growled back.

Liz turned the angry turtle's head towards her. "Hey…no need for anger, big guy…"

Raphael gave her a look that said he hardly believed her.

Liz knew just what to do. She took Raph's arms and put them around her waist, drawing him closer to her until her chest touched his plastron.

"Let's make him jealous…after all Christine has to work at the gallery all day…"

Raph caught on to her meaning and grinned. Slowly, he put her arms around his neck. Then, without a word, the two started swaying back and forth to the song.

Surprisingly, Raph was actually a decent dancer and moved rather smoothly around the dance floor. Where he learned it, she didn't know but that didn't matter…all that mattered was that he was holding her.

And with that, Liz fell in love with the big galoot all over again…

Leo, Donnie, and Mikey looked on in amazement at the change in demeanour in their usually aggressive, bull-headed brother. He now looked almost…serene. As if nothing in the world was giving him grief and all he felt was…happiness.

And when they saw Raphael look into her eyes, they all knew…Their brother was in all the way…

"Now you know how I feel." Mikey muttered, grinning.

_Holy crap, I'm in love…_ Raph thought while he looked down at the woman in his arms. And more amazing yet, he didn't feel fear…he only felt joy. As if in silent thank you, the red-bandana wearing turtle bent down and kissed her.

Liz felt all her thoughts flee her mind as she stood on her tip-toes, deepening the kiss as much as she could.

The moment was jarred when the first bars of a hip-hop song came through the speakers.

"Never knew you were a good dancer, Raphael…"

Raph had the good grace to blush slightly. "Well, I…uh…well…I…you'll think it's dumb…"

Liz shook her head. "No, I won't…please, tell me."

Raph sighed, not able to believe what he was about to divulge to her.

"I…uh…let…uh…Christine teach me over one summer…I…uh…wanted to learn…" The red-banded turtle said this low enough so that only Liz would hear. He'd be damned if any of this brothers heard. There was no way he would endure their teasing over that one.

He felt better, however, when he saw the look of obvious approval come across her face.

"That's awesome, Raphael…not many guys, turtle or otherwise I would imagine, would actually put aside their 'manly' pride to learn how to dance."

He blushed again, only this time he was smiling. "Just don't tell my bros, eh? The last thing I need is razzin' from them."

Liz gently kissed the turtle she loved and admired. "My lips are sealed."

The rest of the afternoon involved much dancing, laughing, and in general merriment especially from watching Mikey spin around the dance floor on his shell.

This truly was a special evening and Liz would hold it in her heart forever…

As they made their way back to the lair that evening, Liz's cellular phone rang. When she heard it, the good feelings she had crashed and burned…for she knew who was phoning and why…

"Hello, Gonzo." She said, when she answered.

Mikey, Donnie, Leo, and Raph all exchanged puzzled looks as she addressed the person on the other line.

Liz hadn't wanted to reveal the truth this way, but it appeared that her boss had unwittingly made it so she had to.

Biting her lip, Liz put her cell on speakerphone. No more secrecy now…

"Liz, they're pushing hard on this deal…they want them earlier…"

"Earlier?" Liz felt her heart fall to the ground.

"Yes, earlier…as in within…" there was a brief paused followed by a long sigh, "they want them first thing tomorrow morning..."

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not…tomorrow…or they kill him…"

Fear gripped Liz as she thought of her poor uncle… "Why are they suddenly pushing so hard?" She asked, trying to keep herself together.

"Apparently their rivals got wind of the turtle's existence and now they want them too. Therefore, these guys want them first…and fast…"

"Oh, shit…" Liz whispered.

"Yeah…Damon and Hellcat will be in position when you take them up…"

Liz hung up her cell and let out a shaky breath. Things were spinning out of control… Liz had hoped for more time to explain everything…more time to…let go…

"What was that all about?" Leonardo demanded.

Liz felt tears prick her eyes. I'm…I'm….there's more to me than…what you know…"

Letting the tears fall down her cheeks, she turned to face the quartet.

_Goodbye, Raphael… _She thought her heart breaking.

"I-I'm actually Raven…a professional hacker…I help the police, FBI, CIA or what have you by assisting them with missions to help take down some of the worst criminals world has to offer…T-the one my boss, Gonzo was talking about…involves you guys…"

"W-what do you mean?" asked a very scared Michelangelo.

"I mean…my uncle was taken hostage by what most consider the most powerful terrorists that exist today because of a falsehood…they thought he was harming this man…when in realty he was helping him…they did eventually realize the truth, but they want a ransom for him…two million dollars plus you guys…I was to infiltrate your lair, learn about you…and when the time came, lure you out to the surface where you'd be taken to them...just a few days from now…"

All of them remained silent for a long moment. It was Raphael who broke the silence.

"Is this true?"

"Yes, it is…" Liz felt her heart break knowing what answering the question was going to cost her…

"I-I had no choice…they'll kill him…" Liz whispered.

Raphael walked towards Liz; the look of raw anger on his face chilled her to the bone with fear.

"I don't _fucking _care…you _used_ us…you made us _trust_ you…you made me _care_ about you…"

Raphael felt like he was caught in some sort of sick and twisted nightmare. The first woman who accepted him for who and what he was and who finally made him feel peace had just betrayed him and his family.

"I told you this to save you…I couldn't let them do what I know they can do to you…"

"You were gonna hand us over to terrorists!" Raph bellowed, drawing his weapon.

"At first…" Liz admitted, tears running freely down her face now, "but…then I got to know you…I saw that you weren't just the mindless animals they told me you were…I saw that you were just the same as any human being on the inside…then, I…I…"

"And then you what, _Raven_?" Raph asked, his tone saying he didn't really care what she said, but figured he'd let her ramble anyway.

Liz looked the red-banded turtle in the eyes despite her fear. "Then I fell in love with you."

All any of them heard from Raph was a feral growl right before he threw his sai, causing it to land barely an inch from her head.

"You come near us again," Raph said, getting right in her face, "and I _won't_ miss…"

He pulled his sai out of the wall and stormed off.

"And if he doesn't kill you, one of us will…" It was Leonardo who said this, his katana drawn and resting along the side her neck.

Liz had no doubt in her mind that he was telling the truth. The deadly look in his eyes told her that.

Leo slowly removed it and walked away, followed by Donny and Mikey, who both gave her dirty looks.

Liz waited until they had disappeared before she let herself truly let her grief free.

_I'm so sorry, Raphael…_

Back in the lair, Raph stormed around trashing everything in sight and letting out loud yells of anger and sorrow.

The only woman he had ever loved had betrayed him…

Angry and hot tears poured down the ninja's face as he rampaged on. When there was nothing else to knock over and or break, he sank to his knees and choked out sobs.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, but shrugged it off. There was nobody that could comfort him.

Grumbling, the heart broken turtle made his way to his room and slammed the door. The sound echoed through the lair as if punctuating his pain.

"What should we do?" asked a concerned Mikey, who'd been the one to offer kindness to Raph.

"Let him be for now, my son." Splinter said. "Leonardo informed me of what was happening. Only time will heal his wounds, Michelangelo…"

Time had no meaning to Liz now as she wondered through the sewers, making her way to a ladder that would take her back to the surface. She'd lost all she cared about now. Liz, or rather Raven was alone.

It was better this way…

If she hadn't told them the truth, they would be on their way to god knows where to be…well, she didn't want to think too much about that…

A ladder soon came into view and Liz climbed out and then shivered, feeling the cold breeze of the night air.

Funny, that's how she felt inside without Raph…cold.

The tears flowed again and Liz didn't care if anyone saw her sorrow. Nothing mattered anymore…

"Liz, are you okay?" Startled, she looked up to see Christine looking at her, concern in her eyes.

Liz didn't answer, she simply walked past her, desperate to…what, she didn't know…she only knew that if she didn't keep moving, she would collapse and just give up.

Christine gently grabbed Liz's elbow and turned her around. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" she whispered.

Christine didn't believe Liz for a second. "Come on…tell me…" Gently, Christine drew Liz into a hug, as she hated to see anyone in any kind of pain.

Liz felt guilt eat at her. Christine didn't know what had happened only moments ago…she didn't know the truth of the matter.

Without a word, Liz drew back and then handed Christine a small card.

"What's this?"

Christine looked down at it and saw a six digit number written on it along with a web address.

"That's the truth." Liz answered and walked away.

Christine grabbed her again, not satisfied with the cryptic messages she was getting.

"Please…tell me what's going on."

Sighing, Liz slowly told Christine the same story she'd told the turtles back in the sewers.

"…and now, instead of getting them…they're going to try and get me…and that's how I want it. I'd rather have them after me than the guys."

Christine stood stunned at the news that this woman had just given her. "You're going to let yourself be hunted by them?"

"Yes, that's the plan." Liz shuddered inwardly at that despite herself.

"You can't do this! Raph…"

"…is angry with me as he should be."

Christine folded her arms. "Raph cares about you. Even though he is angry as you say, he wouldn't want you to do this."

Liz whirled around, angry now. "Why the hell do you care? In case you forgot, your boyfriend was a part of this. I was willing to give him to them, too."

"And now you're risking your life to save him and his family. I'd have to say that warrants a little something I like to call _forgiveness_."

Liz stood awestruck at the woman before her. She'd expected scathing words, an order to never return…but not this…not…understanding.

"I don't deserve this…you-you have no idea what they can do…"

Christine hugged her again. "Yes you do and nothing will convince me otherwise."

The way she said it told Liz that Christine wasn't kidding. The woman had meant what she'd said. And with that, Liz cried for a very different reason…she cried out of gratitude instead of grief.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: wow…we're nearing the end already…let's see…I'm thinking at least 3 or 4 more chapters…maybe…we'll see how it goes. Anyway, read on and enjoy!

Liz also known as Raven sat in her truck the next morning, awaiting her boss's instructions. Fear coursed through her veins as she thought of how he and the people they were to meet were going to react to the news that their plans had been blown all to hell.

Damon and Hellcat were in position, ready with their tranquilizer guns and darts.

Liz gripped the steering wheel and cursed over and over again. Just when were they going to arrive? It was nearly 10:00am…

A moment later, a black van with tinted windows came into view and parked in front of her van. Three men with slick and undoubtedly expensive business suits came out and made their way to her driver's side window. One was tall and built like a wrestler while the other two more slender but weren't lacking for muscle despite that.

Liz rolled it down and faced the men.

"It's time. You had better have the goods." He said the threatening tone in his voice unmistakeable.

"Don't worry, I do." She said and climbed out of the vehicle. The instant she got out, the biggest of the three men walked over, placing handcuffs on her wrists and pushing his very large gun into the small of her back.

"You screw us over, you die." The man said bluntly, his cold blue eyes boring into hers for a moment.

Liz had no doubt that he wouldn't hesitate. He had killed before…she scrunched her eyes as she thought of Hellcat's parents and how he'd taken them down…

However, now wasn't the time for memories, now was the time to focus on the task and hand and make sure that nobody was killed.

Gonzo appeared a moment later with a gun clenched in one hand and a suitcase in another.

"Lure them out." One of the smaller men said this one with red hair and light grey eyes. He pushed her into the alley until she was adjacent to the manhole entrance in its center.

"I don't have to…you're taking me instead of them."

Silence filled the alleyway for a long moment. The men regarded her with mixed expressions. One remained stoic and the other looked slightly shocked. The third, however, looked remarkably pleased.

"I'm worth at least _ten times_ what they are…" It was true. Her talents and her knowledge would be invaluable to anyone, especially them. One reason was because she'd hacked into their security files…something nobody had ever done before and the FBI and CIA had had their best working on it for years.

That also presented a good reason for why they would want to pay the cash for her: so they could be the ones to silence her…permanently.

The biggest one grinned in a way that made Liz nervous but still refuse to back down. She was going to save the turtles no matter what happened to her…

"What the hell are you doing, Liz?" Gonzo demanded.

"I'm changing the rules."

"Liz, for god's sake, they'll kill you!"

Liz lowered her eyes and stared at the concrete ground. "I know…just give them the money and make sure my uncle is safe."

"Liz…Don't you…"

"Just do it!" Liz shouted, tears stinging her eyes.

"Listen to the lady…" The biggest one instructed.

Gonzo, knowing what could happen if he didn't, carried the case of money towards the man and set it at his feet. The red-haired one picked it up and placed in the back seat of their van. He also grabbed a slumped-over figure from the same place.

Liz felt her heart expand as she realized that this was the man who shared the same name as her Irish co-worker…it was her uncle.

He looked a little skinny and dirty, but other than that, he wasn't too worse for ware.

"Uncle Damon?"

He looked up and his large brown eyes widened. "Liz! You're…" Her uncle looked at her handcuffs. "What's happening?"

"I'm giving them me for your freedom." She told him bluntly.

A look of pure horror crossed over his face. "Liz, you damned well won't!"

"It's the only way." Liz said her voice full of determination.

"But what about…"

"They're staying out of this." Liz turned and looked at the man who'd killed her best friend's parents. "Just take me out of here, now. You have what you want and so do we."

He grinned and pushed her towards and into the van. He slammed the door shut and then went around to the front and climbed into the passenger seat.

The other two men climbed into the back with Liz. The red-head wrapped her mouth with tape and tossed her radio in the front seat.

"Now, to make sure you don't make trouble…" Liz's eyes widened as the red-head produced a needle from his coat pocket. He and the other skinny one held her down so she couldn't struggle.

Liz tried to scream from behind the tape but it only came out as a muffled garble. An intense stinging sensation hit her body when the needle penetrated her neck. Her vision swam in front her eyes, faded and eventually went black…

**_Earlier that evening… _**

Christine walked slowly back to the lair, still reeling from her encounter with a misery-stricken Liz. The small card was burning a hole in her hand where she still clutched it.

Would this card perhaps convince the boys to forgive her? Would _Raphael _forgive her? That was million-dollar question.

When she walked inside, Mikey took one look at her expression and drew her into his arms.

"What's the matter, babe?"

Christine leaned against Mikey, taking in the strength he gave her. "I ran into Liz on my way here…she told me everything."

Mikey immediately stiffened. "She had better stay away from you or…"

Christine pushed herself out of Mikey's arms, surprising him. "You're not going to hurt her, Michelangelo."

"But she betrayed us!"

Christine folded her arms across her chest in a very Raph-like manner. "She changed Mikey…I saw it. Liz is going give herself to those men instead of you…Men who I'm sure wouldn't think twice about killing her and you know why?"

Mikey waited for her explanation, a still angry look on his face.

"Because she cares about us…and because she's in love with Raphael."

The orange-banded turtle was silent, for he knew she was right. He'd seen how Liz had looked at his brother…especially when they'd hung out at the bar earlier that day.

"So…what do we do?"

"Figure out a way to save her."

Mikey sighed. "Oh boy, my bros are gonna kill me for this."

Christine touched his arm gently. "I'll deal with them." And with that, she went off in search of the rest of the boys. When she found them, she brought them all in the living room and told them her thoughts and what they should do.

Arguments against it, as she had expected, came. Still, Christine refused to give in. She knew in her heart that Liz deserved to be saved from whatever cruel fate awaited her.

Leo sighed after a long moment of silence once Christine had finished lecturing them. "I think you're right, too…we have to save her…she saved us even though she didn't have to…"

Donny nodded in agreement. "We had better hurry, though. I hate to think that they're doing to her…" Donny paled a little before continuing, "…or have done already…"

Mikey sat there, looking bewildered and a little shocked. "We've been total blockheads, dudes. If we hadn't been so angry…"

Leo patted his youngest brother's shoulder in comfort. "We weren't thinking…but, we'll do our best to make sure she escapes those men so that we can make it up to her."

"Thanks, guys…" Christine said and hugged the both of them.

Raph, however, didn't speak. Instead, he paced the living room grumbling.

Christine leaned against Mikey's plastron. "I wonder what he's thinking…"

Mikey gently rubbed his girlfriend's arms. "Nobody ever knows what Raph's thinking except Raph…well, unless ya tick him off…then you know."

"But will he want to save her?"

Raph stopped short in the middle of the living room just as Christine finished voicing her question.

"Yes…I do."


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: and here we are at yet another chapter! Anyway, in this chapter, the boys get the rescue underway…will they succeed? Well…read on!

"So…what do we do first?" Christine asked while the boys sat around their kitchen table, tossing around ideas as to how they could find Liz and save her.

"First, we need to learn something about Liz's other life such as who these people that wanted us and have her are, and where to find them…" Donny answered.

That's when Christine remembered the card Liz had given her. Quickly, she dug it out of her pocket and placed it on the table.

"Liz gave me this the evening before everything went down. She said it would have answers."

Donny picked up the card and examined what Liz had written on it. "It's worth a shot…"

"They had better not hurt her…" Raph growled from his end of the table. Though his tone was angry, his face expressed more than that…there was fear and regret there aswell.

Christine reached over and gave the red-masked turtle's hand a squeeze. When Raph looked over at her, she gave him a comforting smile. He gave her a grateful one back.

That was one thing Raph was coming to appreciate about his brother's girl…if you were upset, she made it her mission to make you feel better. Like the time he'd been in a funk because some members of the Purple Dragons, a gang that he'd been enemies with for years, had taken his only and beloved Sai that he'd had since childhood and had damaged them beyond repair.

A week after the incident, a gift box with his name on it and a pair of brand new custom-made Sai inside it appeared.

He'd been on cloud nine for days. That was one of the many reasons the turtle had chosen to hear her out when she had approached them all with the idea of saving Liz. If it had been anyone else asking him, he would have flat out told them no and where to go, but with her he sat back and listened because he truly respected her.

Over the next few minutes, Donny fired up his computer and checked out the information on the card to see if it was viable.

They all gasped when an official-looking government website popped up on the screen, welcoming Raven to it.

On one side of the webpage was a series of folder icons with the words "classified mission" on them.

Donny clicked on the first one and official documents popped up, outlining the details of what that mission was. All, it seemed, were all hacking missions with the objective being to obtain certain kinds of information and to give said information to certain people by a certain time. Also there was a list of what the theoretical security barriers that she might face.

As the purple-masked turtle read through them, his eyes got bigger and bigger.

"What is it, Donny?" Mikey asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"These security measures are unheard of! I have no idea how she could have gotten through without detection…"

"She obviously did," Christine said, pointing to the part of the document that said "Mission completed."

"Yeah," Donny said, shaking his head in disbelief, "damn this girl is good…"

They read on, getting more and more amazing by the increasing level of difficulty in her missions. It was clear to them that Liz was probably one of the best hackers in the country, if not the world.

It was with the last file that Donny opened that they hit pay dirt.

It described in full detail the entire mission that was currently underway. Now there was nothing left to mystery…the turtles now knew that what Liz had told them was indeed true. She'd actually given the unvarnished truth.

There was even a line that stated that 'Elizabeth Dawn Brent also known as Raven' was in the 'custody' of the terrorists.

Raph swore softly under his breath. "Holy hell, she was tellin' the truth…'bout everything…"

"Yeah…it's one thing to hear her say it…but to see it on an official government document is something else…" Donny said his expression grave.

They all nodded silently in agreement.

"So…how are we going to find her?" Leo asked Donny.

The purple-masked turtle answered his brother by pointing at two pictures that were clearly identified as two of her co-workers and boss.

"We'll start with them."

_**Abandoned cabin, location unknown…**_

Liz groaned as she slowly came awake. Her vision was fuzzy and her head was pounding.

Where in the hell had they taken her? Slowly, she tried to sit up, only to find that she couldn't. Turning her head, she realized her wrists and her ankles were strapped to a gurney just like the ones used at psychiatric hospitals for violent patients.

As her head cleared, fear began to creep into her. The bastards now had her at their mercy. There was no telling what they would do…or worse, what they had already done while she'd been unconscious.

Liz looked at her arms as best she could. There were no cuts or bruises. She didn't feel any pain or soreness anywhere which meant they hadn't beaten her or tried to rape her…

She sighed in relief but unfortunately it was short-lived. The big man entered the room carrying a large briefcase.

"Good morning, Miss Brent." He spat her name as if it was something foul in his mouth. Liz glared at him. The big man ignored her and set the case down on a small table next to the gurney she was in.

"Now…" he opened the case reveal all sorts of needles of different sizes filled with fluids of different colours. "It's time to pay you back for putting away so much of my friends and family."

Liz stared at the ceiling, refusing to look at the sharp implements. "They were all drug dealers selling to young kids…they deserve to be in jail."

The big man's face instantly turned red and he backhanded her across the face. Liz flinched slightly at her now stinging cheek.

"You shut the hell up." He growled. The big man turned to the case and withdrew one of the larger needles with a gold fluid in it. When he faced her again, he was smiling.

_Oh, shit… _

Liz knew all too well what was in that needle. The fluid was called 'Burning Death' and was sold exclusively on the black market. It would cause an intense burning sensation in the victim and if injected in small doses, it could last for hours before the victim would either go into shock and die or lose their sanity…

Liz flinched as the needle pricked her arm none too gently.

"This is only the beginning, you know…"

_I don't doubt it, you sick, twisted… _Liz's thoughts were cut off as the burning began and her own screams filled the small room…

**_Secret Unit Headquarters, downtown New York City…_**

Hellcat chewed her pen nervously while she sat with her brother, Liz's uncle and her boss in their usual meeting room. They had spent the entire night tracking the men after they'd taken her best friend away but it hadn't helped too much. They'd lost them a little too easily. It was as if someone had been telling them exactly where they had been and what they had been doing at every moment.

The only good that came from the mission was that they'd managed to find the warehouse that the terrorists had been storing drugs and weapons and cease them.

Damn, if that man hadn't held Liz so close the entire time, her brother could've gotten a clear shot at the bastard and this mess could've been avoided.

This made Hellcat growl. "What are we going to do?" she asked. Silence followed for a long while until it was broken by the sound of Hellcat's cellular phone ringing. This immediately put her on full alert. Only four people besides her had this number. Three of them were in the room with her and the other was captured…So, just who the hell was phoning her?

Hellcat answered it with a terse, "Who is this and make it quick…only a handful of people know this number and I'm sure as shit you aren't one of them."

A deep baritone voice answered her on the other end. "My name is Leonardo and we share a friend in common…Elizabeth Brent."

Hellcat was floored. "How do you know her?"

"She was sent by your, uh, organization to infiltrate our lair and sell us off to terrorists that is until she decided to give herself to them instead of us."

This caused the Irish woman's eyes to widen. Was she really _talking_ to one of those turtles? It all seemed a little too fantastical.

"We need your help to save her." As he spoke to Hellcat, she wrote down a message to the others in the room on a pad of paper in front of her.

**It's the turtle on the other end…its Leonardo. That would be the one with the blue mask. He wants our help with rescuing Liz.**

The three men read the message and each of their eyes went as wide as her were.

It was Gonzo who wrote back to her.

**If he wants to meet, say yes. **

Hellcat read the note and nodded. Even if it did seem unreal, they would take help where they could get it. And she'd wanted to see these things in real life anyway. Her curiosity had been peaked the minute she'd seen the photographs at the beginning of the mission.

The cherry on top would be meeting this Raphael that had gotten her friend all hot and bothered…

"Alright, Leonardo…we'll assist you."

A sigh of relief could be heard on the other end. "Thank you…can we meet outside your building?"

"Yes, that can be done. See you in ten minutes?"

Leonardo agreed and then hung up.

"Wow…" Hellcat said when she hung up, "just wow…I can't believe I just talked to one of them! This is so cool!" Yeah, her excitement was slightly inappropriate considering the circumstances, but she couldn't help herself.

Stranger still, was the anticipation she felt at meeting the one she'd spoken to. His voice was undeniably sexy and had her body humming slightly.

_Oh, god! One does not lust after turtles… _

That's when she realized that she hadn't batted an eyelash when her friend had admitted to lusting after Raphael, who was one of them!

_Holy crap…maybe I've gone nuts…_

Hellcat shook herself from those thoughts. This was no time to worry about those kinds of things. Her top priority was rescuing her friend.

Still…it might explain her decision to give herself up…Was it possible that Liz had fallen for the turtle and decided that she'd rather be hurt instead of them?

If that was the case, then there was no question that her friend loved this guy, uh, turtle.

_Wow…one surprise after another…_

And with that, she relayed her conversation to the men and they all suited up for the meeting.

When Hellcat, Liz's uncle, her brother, and Gonzo walked outside they found a tall, bulky figure with a trench coat and a fedora waiting for them.

"Are you Leonardo?" Hellcat asked the figure. It nodded.

"Yes, I am. Are you Hellcat, who I spoke with on the phone?"

Hellcat nodded and extended her arm towards him. Her eyes went wide as a green three-fingered hand reached out of the shadows to shake her hand.

Surprisingly his hand wasn't wet, cold and slimy as she'd thought it might be. It was actually dry, slightly rough and warm.

"I'm assuming your brothers Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael are with you?"

Leonardo nodded and gestured for them to come out of the darkness. They too were wearing the same attire as their brother.

"So, are we gonna go after Liz, or what?" The one in red demanded. This one, if memory served Hellcat right, was Raphael.

"Yes, we are." Hellcat gestured at the men with her. "This," she pointed at Liz's uncle, "is Liz's uncle Damon. Next to him is my brother, who happens to have the same name, and lastly…my boss, Gonzo."

All four of the turtles shook hands with everyone in turn. "Now that the niceties are out of the way," Gonzo said, "let's go get Liz."

And with that, they went back into the building and to the underground parking lot. There were cars of virtually every made and model all lined up, waiting to be used. They climbed into of the larger vans.

Gonzo grimaced as Hellcat got behind the wheel. "You guys might want to hang on." He said to the four turtles that were buckling in at the moment.

"Why?" Mikey asked. The orange-masked turtle got his answer when Hellcat stepped on the gas and they peeled up and out of the parking lot.


	12. Chapter 12

The van's clock glowed midnight by the time they made it out to where they wanted to go. Gonzo had had his crew trying to locate the place for weeks. Ironically, it was Liz, the one who was currently captured that had figured out the location by hacking into some of the terrorist's files earlier that week.

None of them ever expected to use the information this way.

The huge, three-floor cabin sat on a large hill overlooking water. Several lights were on and bodies could be seen passing by the windows.

"This is it, guys." Hellcat announced, breaking the silence that had lasted throughout the entire tension-filled ride.

Everyone got out and made sure they had everything they needed. Hellcat passed guns to the men and tucked what was obviously the biggest one into her holster.

Her brother Damon raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey, size matters." She whispered to him.

This earned her an eye roll but still she smirked anyway.

Gonzo briefed everyone on how they would enter without disturbances. Each turtle nodded in understanding.

With a wordless signal, they made their way up the hill towards the cabin. When they got there, they found a couple of what they liked to call henchmen sitting on the deck having a beer completely unaware that they were being observed.

Hellcat, both Damons and Gonzo watched in amazement as the four turtles disappeared into the night and crept up onto the roof, the only clue to their presence was the shining edge of Leonardo's Katana, lit by the moon.

Within seconds, they had grabbed the men right out of their chairs and swiftly knocked them out with stylish and smooth moves before they knew what had hit them.

Hellcat smiled, paying attention to Leo more than the others. Damn, those swords were amazing…

Shaking herself, she refocused on her mission. There was no time for gawking at a turtle who happened to be a superior fighter.

"This might prove useful." Donatello said, holding up a small card with a black strip on one side.

Hellcat jumped, not having realized that he'd landed near her. "You have to warn people when you do that!" she hissed.

Donatello only laughed and handed her the card, which she took and examined. "This looks like a security card…I might just grant us access."

"If it doesn't I can probably rewire the system to let us in." Donatello offered.

Hellcat looked at him as though he'd grown two heads. How would a turtle know how to do that?

Donatello only shrugged. "I'm good with technology."

Moments later, they all met up again and made their way towards an entrance into the cabin. When they reached it, they saw card swiping box. Hellcat handed the card to her boss, who swiped it into the machine. A green light appeared a short time later and the door opened.

Slowly and quietly, they made their way inside. Gonzo whispered orders to split up and take out who they could while seeing if they could locate where they were keeping Liz.

Raph and Mikey went in one direction, while Leo and Donny went in another. Hellcat took off with her brother, while her boss took off with Liz's uncle.

Raphael quickly realized that the cabin was huge and not all that easy to navigate. He and Mikey had gotten turned around a couple times in only a short while.

The red-banded turtle cursed softly as they rounded yet another corner.

"Don't worry, bro. We'll find her." Mikey whispered. Raph gave his brother's shoulder a squeeze in thanks.

A moment later, Raph caught the whiff of a familiar metallic scent: blood. Whether it was Liz's or someone else's, he couldn't tell. Either way, he didn't like it.

Mikey and Raph quickened their pace until they came to a large door leading to what Raph figured was the basement. The faint sound of voices could be heard. Curious, Raph stuck his head on the side of the door to see if he could make out what they were saying.

"Boss," a gruff voice said, "the bitch passed out…"

Laughter was heard. "Wow…I have to admire that…took her hours…"

Raph growled as he realized they were talking about Liz…the woman he loved. Without a second thought, he gave the door a powerful kick, which resulted in it coming off its hinges and falling to the ground with a loud crash.

Both turtles barrelled into the room, straight into rapid gunfire. Immediately, they hid their arms and legs inside their shells and tumbled down the stairs that way, most of the bullets bouncing off of them harmlessly.

When they resurfaced, they both kicked the men's legs out from under them. The shock on their faces was priceless and made Raph and Mikey smirk despite the situation.

The bigger of the two men was a little quicker than the other to recover and fired a shot which grazed Raph's shoulder. The momentary sizzle of pain made the turtle hiss.

In answer, Raph knocked the weapon out of his hand and knocked the man out with a punch.

The smaller, red-headed man drew a gun and fired at Mikey's head. Quickly, he drew it into his shell so it missed him.

The bullet instead hit the wall, sending splinters of wood all over the room.

When his head reappeared, he grinned and proceeded to knock the guy out with the end of his chucks.

The pain Raph felt in his shoulder was forgotten when he finally got a chance to glance around the room. In the corner was Liz, strapped to a bed. Her body was pale and sweaty and showed no visible signs of life.

"Liz!" Raph shouted and ran to her side. He checked her pulse the instant he got to her. He nearly keeled over in relief when he felt a faint one. She was alive…they weren't too late as he'd secretly feared the whole trip over to the cabin.

Raph used his Sai to cut the straps that bound her to the bed. Gently, he picked her up and cradled her in his arms.

"Speak to me…" Raph pleaded with her, stroking the side of her face with his thumb.

"Let's get her to the van, bro…maybe Donny can help her out…or one of those secret agent dudes."

Raph nodded and carried her back up the stairs while Mikey stood in front of the pair to protect them in case they ran into any more of those men.

When they reached the top, they found the rest of the crew, slightly dirty and bloody. Damon, Liz's uncle, however looked as bad as his niece.

"Gunshot wound to the abdomen." Hellcat told the two of them, her voice full of worry.

"She's not farin' too well; either…we need to help 'er out." Raph announced.

Hellcat looked around the room to see if anyone else was around. Raph noticed that when her eyes fell on the biggest man of the bunch that they'd seen who unconscious on the floor, a look of hatred was mixed with fear flashed in her eyes and then was gone. What that was about, he didn't know, but he had bigger priorities at the moment…like making sure Liz survived.

And with that, they hurried out of the building and to the van. However, once they began to peel down the driveway, (again, thanks to Hellcat getting the wheel before her boss could) it was obvious that the bastards weren't done with them. A black Escalade appeared and gave chase.

Hellcat swore under her breath and sped up. The Escalade sped up too and then rammed into the back of the van, jarring everyone inside.

In answer, Hellcat went faster still, taking corners so quickly that the van tilted slightly.

"Can you outrun them, Hellcat?" Gonzo asked.

Hellcat glanced through her rear view mirror before answering her boss. "I sure as hell hope so."

Just then, the back window shattered, glass raining down on human and turtle alike. Raphael covered Liz's body with his so that none would hit her.

The culprit, gunfire, could be heard through the now opened window even over the roaring wind and tires.

The Escalade then pulled up beside them, turned sharply, and hit them in the side nearly tipping the van.

Damon, Hellcat's brother, growled and fired back at the men in the huge S.U.V. The Irishman succeeded in blowing out the passenger side window which caused them to swerve momentarily.

"We've got to do something, fast!" Gonzo shouted blood running through his fingers from Liz's uncle's wound. The poor man was turning pale and slowly losing consciousness.

"M-make s-sure…she's…safe…" he muttered to Gonzo.

"You just make sure you stay with us, man." Gonzo answered.

More gunfire came from both sides but it was Damon's skill with a gun that gave them the upper hand. He blew out both front tires on the Escalade causing the car to veer out of control. It skidded, flipped, and rolled down the road before finally coming to a screeching halt.

After that, none of them looked back. They simply focused on getting to safety and making sure their two suffering occupants survived the trip there.

Raphael looked down at the fragile woman in his arms. She was still unconscious and blissfully unaware of the action that had just taken place around her.

Just what had they done to her?

There were no visible bruises, cuts, or anything to suggest physical injury. Still, he would make sure that Donny gave her a thorough examination just to be sure.

Raph cursed the men that did to her and thanked the higher-ups that they'd crashed that S.U.V. hopefully, the men that did this to her were in there…

They arrived back at the agent's headquarters just as the sun was coming up over the horizon. Without wasting any time, Gonzo carried Liz's uncle and Raph carried Liz into the building.

Hellcat directed them to their makeshift hospital that they themselves had used after several hairy missions.

Raph stood by while Gonzo and Donny worked on their three patients. Liz's co-workers and her boss watched in awe as Donny treated Liz's uncle with expertise.

"Where did you learn that?" Gonzo asked, amazed while watching Donny stitch both Liz's uncle's and Raph's wounds.

"It's all from practice." Donny said as he finished applying the bandage to the wounded man's side.

"So what's wrong with Liz? How do we help her?" Raph demanded. Liz still hadn't stirred once through the entire ordeal.

Donny walked over to the still unconscious woman and studied her. Her face was covered in sweat, her long black hair sticking to her cheeks and forehead.

Hellcat bit her lip and lifted her friend's shirt sleeve on a hunch. Sure enough, there were angry, almost greyish blue coloured veins surrounded by a small puncture wound.

"Holy shit!" Raph exclaimed. "That wasn't there before!"

"No, they usually don't appear until hours later…"

"What are you sayin'? You know what this is?" Raph asked, desperate for some answers.

Hellcat nodded, looking grave. "Yes, I do…it's the result of being injected with a poison called 'Burning Death.'" From there, she explained how the drug worked.

"The only antidote is to give her a huge blood transfusion to get the toxic chemicals out of her…and fast. If we don't it could kill her in less than a day."

"We have the machines necessary for the procedure, but I'm not sure we have enough blood for it." The Irishman announced.

"Well, have a look then. If we don't, Hellcat shares her blood type so we can use her."

The Irishman nodded and left the room.

"I'm so sorry, babe…" Raph whispered to Liz and kissed her forehead.

Gonzo and Hellcat watched the tender gesture, amazed that a unique creature such as he was could feel and act much like a human being. It became clear that they had underestimated the turtles and what they were capable of.

When Damon finally returned, he was smiling. "We do have enough for her." He walked over to Raph and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "No worries, she's going to be alright."

Even with the Irishman's reassurance, Raphael stayed with Liz, holding her hand through the whole transfusion and long afterward.

It was late in the afternoon when Liz finally opened her eyes. Blinking slowly, she realized that she was no longer in the cabin and no longer in pain. Had her crew come to rescue her?

Looking around, she recognized the small room as being one of three that they had in their makeshift hospital.

She discovered her uncle, asleep soundly on the bed next to her and a very familiar turtle also asleep on a chair right alongside her bed, his head half on her pillow.

Why was he here especially after all that had happened? The last time she'd seen him, he'd threatened to skewer her with his Sai if she came near him again.

What had warranted his change of heart?

Liz lifted her hand to gently touch his forehead. "Raph…" she whispered softly, hoping he'd hear her.

The big red-masked turtle stirred, grumbled, and finally opened his eyes. He smiled when he saw Liz looking back at him.

"You're awake…" he said, full of relief.

"Yeah…and you're here…I thought…"

Raph sighed and gently touched her cheek. "Ah, let's say Mikey's woman knocked some sense into my thick skull. Sure, I was angry and hurt at first, but…then…when I realized that you had actually changed the deal and saved us…I wanted nothing more than to get you back and tell you I'm sorry…and that…I love you, kiddo."

Liz felt tears of joy this time sting her eyes. "I love you, too…" And with that, Raph gently kissed her.

At that moment Liz knew that everything she'd gone through had been worth it. She had Raph back. He didn't leave her side that entire night except to tell the others that was awake once again.

"Hey! Welcome back!" Hellcat said, gently bending over to hug her friend.

"How are you feeling?" her boss asked.

"I'm okay now…" Liz answered, "a little worn out, but alright."

"I'm sorry about our anger towards you…" Leonardo said, regret in his voice.

"Yeah…we were total boneheads." Mikey said, hanging his head.

Liz smiled at them. "You're forgiven…I'd have reacted in the same way."

"Now," Liz said, yawning, "I'd love to just head to the lair and curl up with my turtle." she said, looking straight at Raph who smiled back at her.

"Nice try," Gonzo said, grinning, "But you need to stay here overnight just so we can observe you."

Liz grumbled and pouted. This made Donny laugh. "You're just as bad as Raph when he's sick…"

Liz answered by sticking her tongue out at the purple-masked turtle. However, he only laughed harder.

"I'll just stay with her, then." Raph announced and curled up next to her on the bed. Thankfully, they were larger than average hospital beds so two people (or one person and one turtle in this case) could fit on it.

The boys agreed and left to give the two 'lovebirds' as Mikey put it, some peace.

Once they were gone, Raph grinned and gave Liz a real welcome back kiss.

Life just didn't get any sweeter than this…


	13. Epilogue

Author's note: here we are at the Epilogue of this story! Thanks to all that reviewed. It's greatly appreciated by yours truly. And just so you know, part three is on the way! That one will feature Leonardo! Anyway, read on and enjoy!

Liz sat snugly on the couch, Raph on one side, and her healing uncle on the other. She had finished telling him about everything that had happened while he'd been captured.

"And now…you're madly in love with one of them…" Her uncle said, in awe.

Liz gave Raph a smile and kissed his cheek. "Yes, that's right."

"Ah, that's one crazy story…just like you used to tell me when you were little."

Liz grinned leaned her head against her uncle's shoulder. "Well, here's one that's not so crazy…I'm giving up my status as an agent."

Her uncle looked at her wide-eyed before he grinned from ear to ear.

"I figured that I'd finally listen after all those years of your nagging me to do so…"

"Well," he said, ruffling Liz's hair, "you are a hothead sometimes."

This made Raph and Liz laugh. "That's one reason I love her." Raph said, running his thumb down her cheek.

"I like that she's teaching me some of what she does!" Donny said cheerfully as he entered the room and sat down on a chair opposite the couch.

Raph smirked. "Of course ya would ya big ol' nerd."

Donny only rolled his eyes at his brother. The purple-masked turtle was used to this sort of teasing.

Christine chose that moment to appear, carrying a tray of various beverages. "Coke for you two," she announced, passing Raph and Liz each a can of the pop, "tea for you and me," Christine gave Donny one cup and set her on the table next to the couch, "and beer for you." Liz's uncle grinned when she handed him the bottle of Kokanee. "You earned it."

The man nodded and took a huge sip and sighed happily. This made Christine smile. That's when Liz addressed her.

"Thanks Christine…for your help."

Christine set her tray down and hugged her. "It was my pleasure to make them see reason…and to see you safe."

At that moment, Liz knew she'd made a life-long friend. After all, it couldn't have been easy to do what she did considering what the situation had been.

"You know this means you're going to get free drinks at my bar for life, right?" Liz told her once they broke the hug.

Christine grinned and let out a whoop. "Well, that means you'll see a lot of me."

Both girls laughed and gave each other a high five. "Say…" Liz said, giving Christine a sly look, "It _is_ Sunday…we can have the place to ourselves…and we can bring the boys…"

Christine returned the look. "To the bar we go?"

Liz nodded and stood and linked her arm with Christine's and two women went off to get ready.

When they came back out, all the boys gasped. Liz was wearing a corset top with the bar logo on it, a short mid-thigh skirt and those same 3 inch heal boots. Christine was wearing a small black low-hung draping backless shirt with low-rise form-fitting slacks and her own high-healed boots.

Liz's hair was up with a few tendrils framing her face while Christine's was down and loosely curled at the bottom.

Both Mikey and Raph couldn't speak while Donny and Leo whistled.

The red-masked turtle was the first to recover. He walked over to Liz and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her up against him. "I'm not sure I want to let you out of the lair…"

Liz grinned and kissed the turtle before her. "Come and watch me dance…" She nipped his lip this time.

_Oh, how good it feels to flirt and just be in love… _

Liz looked over Raph's shoulder and grinned as she saw Mikey boldly running his finger down the front of Christine's sexy shirt.

A while later, her uncle and all the boys were dancing and in general having fun at Static. Liz spun a bottle of vodka in her hand and grinned.

_Life is sweet… _

**The End! **


End file.
